Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Overcoat |
Catalog Number |
1951.45.1 |
Date |
ca. 1862 |
Material(s) |
Wool/Cotton |
Dimensions |
H-49 W-20.5 inches |
Description |
This Confederate greatcoat is a faded tan/butternut wool with hood. The warp is natural or unbleached cotton and the weft is gray wool. A padded cotton ticking liner is blue and white striped. The coat has waist pockets and a four button front closure. No buttons are attached to the coat, but one broken button was found in a pocket and assumed to be from this coat. There are two intentional side openings that are hemmed and are intended for access to belt or clothing under the coat. |
Notes |
This overcoat was worn by David Fenimore Cooper Weller. He served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, in Co. C, 2nd Kentucky Infantry, Lewis' Brigade. He was wounded multiple times at Fort Donelson, and served as a nurse for a majority of the remainder of the war. Notes in a scrapbook kept by Charles Herbst, a private in Co. H, 2nd Kentucky Infantry, state "500 [overcoats] were sent 2nd Ky Rgt while at Bowling Green Ky, the winter of 1861 by the good people of New Orleans, La." The page also contains a fabric sample from the lining of Herbst's overcoat. The sample is remarkably similar to the lining in the Weller overcoat. An image of the page has been included in this record for reference. The scrapbook is in a private collection. The Confederate First Kentucky Brigade, nicknamed the Orphan Brigade, included the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 9th Kentucky Infantry regiments and Cobb’s, Byrne’s and Graves’s batteries of artillery, and, at times, the 3rd and 5th Kentucky Infantry. |
Collection |
The Weller Collection |
Event |
Civil War |
People |
Weller, David Fenimore Cooper |
Subjects |
Civil wars Coats Nurses Soldiers |
Search Terms |
Civil War Orphan Brigade |
Physical Holder |
Kentucky Historical Society - KHS |